Second Chance Chunin Exams
by LazyKT
Summary: The chunin exams have rolled around again and it is time for the konoha eleven to get a new chance to be promoted. With Shikamaru unable to participate on his genin team and Sakura no longer having one, Ino, Sakura, and Choji must face the exams together.
1. Opportunity

It had been somewhere around eight months since Naruto left and the chunin exams were rolling around again. After having trained extensively with Tsunade, Sakura was sure that she could take them on properly this time around. She had left her house to escape her nagging mother after getting ready and headed immediately to the Hokage tower. While she walked through the village she saw many of the Konoha eleven. She wondered if they were to be participating in the upcoming exams. She was next to certain that Tsunade would recommend her, though it was not yet official.

It was a nice day. The skies were blue and the village went about its normal bustle. It was calming, pleasant, that was until Ino had caught sight of the young pink haired kunoichi. "So, I was just recommended by Lady Tsunade as well as Asuma sensei for the chunin exams. How about you, _billboard brow_."

"I don't know Ino pig. I was just heading to Tsunade to find out and unlike _you_ I don't need the extra preparation time." Sakura retorted.

"I was heading to the Hokage tower as well. Tsunade summoned me, most likely to tell me how much better of a medical nin I have become than you," and with that the race was on. Butting heads and slowly but viciously increasing speed, their grudge carried them to the tower in question. They scurried up the stairs and slammed their way into Tsunade's office and in unison shouted "I'M HERE MY LADY!"

Tsunade's look of shock dissipated quickly into one of amusement, "as you two probably know you are participating in the chunin exams," with this they both calmed down and looked at Tsunade "seeing as you both don't have a full genin team, you will be placed in a squad together for the exams."

"WHAT?" They both screamed in unison.

"Either you two work together or you have no three man squad to enter the chunin exams with." Tsunade said shaking her head.

"Oh alright," Sakura relented, looking down at her feet dejectedly. Ino said nothing.

"You two are dismissed," both girls then walked out of Tsunade's office and made sure they were a good distance away before the screaming continued.

When their anger died down Ino turned to Sakura seriously "Look billboard brow. I don't want you weighing Choji and I down. Just cause Shikamaru can't be on our team doesn't mean that we are any less effective on our own. Anything that goes wrong will be on you."

Sakura smirked "Oh don't worry Ino pig, I think by the end of this you will be begging for me to be a permanent addition to your team," she said crossing her arms.


	2. Written Test

A week had passed and the participants for the exam from other lands started to arrive. The sand siblings included. Team Gai and Team Kurenai were participating as well. Sakura had overheard in one of her many visits to the Hokage office that the numbers were as followed: 68 from the leaf, 34 from the sand, and 40 or so from other, smaller lands. It would be interesting to see the outcome. She wasn't sure how many of them would be academy fresh rookies like she was her first time around taking the exams.

With her mother yelling from downstairs Sakura did an inventory check. Kunai were sharpened and ready to go, a small pack of medical supplies in her left pouch, ninja tools in the right for easy access. Everything seemed ready to go. Sakura made her escape through her bedroom window to avoid the screaming chore monster downstairs and made her way to meet with a different beast, one of the swine like variety.

Ino and Choji were waiting for Sakura outside the test room snickering as they waited to see if the rookies would see through the obvious genjutsu being cast like they had. Eventually they were admitted into the exam room. Sakura and the rest of the team took to a quiet corner in the back of the room as Sakura did a brief scan of the room, taking note of anyone that caught her attention. The sand siblings where in the opposite corner while the rest of the konoha genin from her graduating class stirred up trouble in the front of the room. She noticed a group of three Taki nin who looked intimidating, the team consisting of two largely built males who she figured despite their appearance where swift as well as strong, and a female who she believed was a skilled genjutsu user.

Two others caught her eye. They were a pair of rather petit genin with half face masks that were dressed near completely in black. She assumed they were from a small village because she didn't recognize the symbol on their headbands.

Satisfied with her assessment of her competition, Sakura awaited for the proctor to make his appearance in the testing room. She knew it was a written test but she figured that due to repeat participants in the exam such as herself it would be run by someone else and done somewhat differently. When the proctor appeared she didn't recognize him. He was a tall man with a slender build and glasses. He announced the rules of which were mostly the same. Sakura knew that the difference had to be in the tenth question and was dying to know what. However, all she could do is take her designated seat which was about a row and a half away from Temari and right next to Kiba.

The signal was given to start and Sakura made a great headway on the exam when she noticed something. There was something small hanging off the desk next to her. Upon closer examination she noticed it was a lizard peering over the side looking at her exam. She wasn't entirely sure how but this was defiantly someone's rather discrete method of cheating. She smiled knowing that whoever it was would be getting all of their questions correct. She had studied after all and these questions were a breeze.

She also noticed that Gaara's third eye had been utilized more subtly than before and that he was looking off her test. She assumed that having gotten to know her better that he realized the extent of her intelligence. She didn't mind so much, he was a friend after all even after the events of their last chunin exams together.

The clock continued to tick away and the room became progressively emptier with the seemingly regularly timed calling of names. Those who were called solemnly left the room with their teammates. Ino had used her mind transfer jutsu on some poor sap toward the front of the room. Sakura had no idea how the sentinels didn't call her out on that with how obvious it was. Yes in a well concealed place in enemy territory it would work but in the middle of a test room it couldn't be more glaring.

Eventually it became time for the tenth question as the proctor had announced. He told everyone that if they were to get the tenth question wrong they would be allowed to continue in the exams but that a penalty would be placed on them in the next test and if they failed the next one they would have their shinobi status revoked. Those who choose to leave forfeited and work done in the exam until that point. Sakura knew the outcome already despite the proctor's attempt to make hide it.

When the remainder of the failed participants exited the room it was announced that they had passed as Sakura had expected. Anko, who was once again proctoring the second phase with joy had entered with joy. She was early, but no one bothered to tell her that. With the first stage complete Sakura offered a smirk at Ino knowing that the first hurdle had been crossed and the next one had to be jumped with their legs tied together.


	3. Fun in the Forest

When they arrived outside the training ground for the second stage Sakura and the rest of the team filled out the consent forms and in return received an earth scroll. They picked an entrance to start at and waited for the signal to enter. Choji looked warily at the gate as he waited. Suddenly the signal was given and they rushed in.

Choji stopped them soon after, "so uh, do we have a plan to get the _other _scroll?" he said careful to leave which type of scroll they had in case of potential eavesdroppers.

Ino turned around surveying the surroundings "I say we wait in the shadows for a team to pass us and then tail them long enough to find out what scroll they have," she said with a smirk.

"Right, then we can wait for them to pass an ideal battle ground and use the element of surprise to gain the upper hand," Sakura added. Choji looked pleased with this plan and so they waited in some of the thicker brush up above until a team eventually did pass them. With adequate tailing they found that they were lucky enough to find a group with a heaven scroll. They followed them for about twenty minutes when they all saw something strange below. They dropped to inspect and were horrified with what they saw. Ino gasped as she inspected the corpses hanging by wire strings from trees. They had shuriken perfectly puncturing through their ribs, back to chest. They hung there lifeless, like abandoned puppets. Their faces were pale and limbs dangling.

Choji began to shake but was the first voice of reason "c-come on guys, if we wait any longer we will lose that other group."

* * *

The sand siblings had been traveling toward the inner tower. They had already tracked down one of the weaker groups with the scroll they needed and kindly threw them against a tree so hard they passed out. No ritualistic killings this time. As they traveled Temari turned to Gaara, "you do know we have been followed for the past ten minutes."

"Yes," Gaara replied and wit that he stopped and turned toward their pursuers. He spoke up, "How long do you intend to follow us?"

The pursuers appeared turning out to be the darkly adorned petit shinobi that Sakura took note of earlier. The male looked to him seriously "you do not posses anything that interests us. We bare no mal-intent."

His voice was almost robotic, his face blank. Gaara didn't like what he was seeing, "if that's true then move on and we won't harm you."

They stared for a moment, the male seeming ready to respond again, but this time Kankuro interrupted "why follow us for so long after you find that we don't have what you need. That doesn't make any sense!"

"We are not obligated to answer," came the reply.

Temari was outraged by this, "Answer or we have no choice but to attack! And why doesn't your teammate have anything to add to this?"

"She is not permitted to speak."

This was getting bad quickly and needed to be resolved. These two could be dealt with later in a more proper manner, "please, leave us now and we can both continue on our way." Gaara said in hope of salvaging the situation. The two masked figures then nodded and dropped from the trees, disappearing amongst the bushes and other plants.

* * *

Sakura, Ino, and Choji had caught up with the group that they had been tailing and found them taking a rest. It was obvious from their actions that they were inexperienced rookies. They watched for a moment until they spotted the scroll in the hands of the female of the group. Ino readied her mind transfer jutsu and hit while Sakura held up Ino's limp body. Ino, now their trusted comrade got up and walked towards the inexperience team.

"What's wrong Harumi?" one of the others asked. The whole group was now both turned away from Sakura and Choji's position. Choji leapt from the tree "Partial expansion jutsu!"

Choji used his two enlarged hands to pin down the other members of the rookie team. Their comrade walked up to Sakura who also emerged from the tree, Ino draped over her shoulder, and handed over the Heaven scroll, "Harumi! What are you doing?" One of them yelled from beneath Choji's grasp.

"Sakura!" called out their comrade.

"I got it," Sakura said as she laid down Ino and went up to the restrained genin. She carefully focused chakra into her hands and hit them both upside the head. They were both out and Choji released his grasp. He then readied himself to grab the girl. Ino released her jutsu and immediately the girl was held down and knocked out.

"Hm, mission accomplished," Ino announced proudly. They then turned their attention to the center of the forest and headed to the tower that they knew lay there.

When they arrived at the tower they were greeted by the sand siblings who predictably got there first with no hassle. There were a few other teams that had made it already, both being the ones singled out in the first phase during Sakura's inspection. As they waited for the others, Ino and Sakura argued as per usual and Choji just watched in confusion. Gaara had his attention focused on the mysterious team of two in the corner that they had encountered earlier.

"I thought you needed a three man squad to enter the chunin exams," Sakura commented as she approached Gaara from behind.

"That is what's bothering me," Gaara said, inspecting the two in front of him. Sakura was going to ask another question when Kiba and his crew entered the tower.

"Yo! Sakura! Ino! You made it here before us? I thought you two would at least be slowed down by your constant arguing," Kiba yelled as he entered.

Both females in question turned to the hound master in question, "We work well together when it matters, fido," Ino chuckled at the poor, now dejected looking boy. Sakura also laughed.

"Hey, no need to resort to name calling," he said annoyed, "any idea how long until the preliminaries start?"

"The test started three days ago, we got here yesterday," Sakura was sure to add their arrival time to further injure the boy's ego, "so two days."

"Well then… we should talk about our experiences so far," Hinata suggested quietly. Gaara was still present at the time of this suggestion.

"I think that is a good idea, let's find an area with less people around to hear," Gaara suggested.

They all headed to a higher level of the tower and Kankuro looked to the team of sensory ninja "You should keep a look out for unwanted listeners; this is for the ears of the people in this room only."

Shino told them that he had his bugs inspecting the perimeter so no one could slip through and Kiba insisted that he and Akamaru would smell anyone coming. Gaara explained the circumstances of their encounter with the team of two.

Sakura looked at him shocked "Ino! Choji! Do you think they might have something to do with-"

Ino turned to Sakura "No way! No genin is that accurate!" After being shot questioning looks from the rest of the group present they explained their run in with the hanging corpses. The whole group looked uneasy.

Shino was the first to speak up after a long silence, "We must be vigilant. We can't let anything like last time happen again."


	4. Preliminaries Begin! The First Victims!

Over the next two days the waiting continued. On occasion they would hear some loud, ugly screams and then within the next hour or two a team would arrive, it being obvious that whichever one screamed would not. The Konoha eleven (minus two) all made it to the tower, all waited through the last day anxiously, all warily watched various suspects of crime. What they didn't know is that some familiar faces watched from the shadows, with both looks of pride and concern.

Eventually a loud voice boomed through the tower and all participants looked up to see a large man with a strange, floppy hat as well as a regulation green jacket. He looked down at them with a devious expression on his bearded face. All the rookies immediately showed signs of fear in their body language, no matter how some tried to hide it. They were led off to the preliminary arena. The teams there included team Kurenai and the team Asuma/team Kakashi hash. The sand siblings were on the same side of the arena as them and they had their eyes on the mysterious two on the other side as well as the two bulky fellows and the supposed genjutsu master. Team Gai came bursting in with Lee yelling enthusiastically about 'youth'. Where they had been, no one knew because they disappeared a few hours earlier for 'special training'.

The stage was set and the man that had collected them now used his deep booming voice to announce the rules. As his words resounded through the room Lee looked to Gaara with determination written all over his, well, everything, "I wish to fight you again, Gaara!" Gaara looked at him for a moment not sure whether to be amused or vaguely annoyed. His attention turned again to the other side of the ring.

Their senseis now all joined them, Kakashi and Asuma included "Well Sakura, I hear you have been doing well." Kakashi remarked in his usual sleepy unenthused tone. Sakura noticed at that point that Shikamaru had joined Asuma to watch the preliminary rounds. She didn't know that such a thing was allowed.

"Well, I think that my training with Lady Tsunade has really paid off, _Sensei_!" she replied in a bit of a snarky tone. _He _isn't the cause of her improvement. She had to go and find a new teacher.

Eventually the monologue on the floor ended and the first names initiated in their random generation. The screen flashed with different names rapidly until it eventually slowed down and landed on its first two victims, Temari and Hinata Hyuga. The names beamed menacingly on the screen as the two competitors took the stage.

"You may begin when ready," announced the booming voice. Hinata readied herself. She knew she would have to find a way to get close to even have a chance at winning. Temari smiled at her and pulled out her fan. The overlarge white paper with the three purple circles on it remained hidden within the metal frame. Hinata activated her byakugan and began to scan Temari's body, judging the flow of chakra, looking for a baseline in when her opponent would attack and when she was resting.

Hinata began to inch closer to Temari and was surprised when she could get so close to the long-range wind-style user. The Hyuga got into her fighting stance and began to attack as the sand kunoichi just stood there. Hinata furiously attempted to attack Temari's vital points but nothing was happening! Everytime she was about to land a hit her hand would be deflected by wind, "I hate to do this to a friend but," Temari started, and then she quickly snapped her fan open, every purple moon showing. With a large swipe a gust of wind threw Hinata against the wall on the other side of the arena. Hinata's body ached, her shoulders in particular felt a strain that was unusual, even during her training with Neji.

"Even if you're a friend, I want to be promoted. Don't take it personally," Temari finished with a sincere but as usual snarky tone.

"This is terrible! How is Hinata supposed to get close enough to attack?" Lee exclaims in his strange over-dramatic tone. Neji looked at his cousin with a mixture of concern, hope, and contempt.

"She doesn't necessarily need to get close if she can successfully pull off a new technique we both learned," Neji looked serious "but even I can only get it right half the time at this point; Hinata has only managed it once."

Tenten looked to Neji not sure what to say. She wondered what technique the genius could have developed to combat the wind-style user. From the stands, gusts of wind brushed past the spectator's faces. From up there it felt light and pleasant, but from what they saw in the arena, quite the opposite was true. Hinata stumbles backward again. This time she had a plan. She advanced forward somewhat toward her competitor's territory, warily stepping across the concrete tiles. She saw a fluctuation in Temari's chakra, this was it. Temari had sent a wind scythe her way, "Rotation!" Her comrades watched in surprise, unsure of her plan. Hinata's last minute jutsu was enough to keep her from being flung backward to the other side of the ring. Now that Temari had unleashed a large attack Hinata had a short window to land her own. She was going to try it "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

A burst of chakra was hurled forward. It hit, not as hard as Hinata would have hoped, but it was enough to disorient Temari. She rushed forward, hitting Temari with all she had. Two palms. She hit Temari on the shoulder and near the stomach. Four palms. Her attacks landed on the thigh and the other shoulder. Eight palms. The strikes now came in much more rapid succession. Sixteen palms. Temari was the one falling back now. Thirty-two palms. Temari was now panting, kneeling on the floor. She attempted to swing her fan to no avail. Hinata had all but won when-

Hinata was flung forward against the wall again. She turned around to see sand where the Temari she had taken down had fallen. Hinata was disappointed in herself for not seeing it sooner. The next thing she remembered was total darkness.


	5. Tenten vs ?

Hinata was taken off the field and Temari returned to her place next to her brothers. They were ready for the next match, no time for waiting. The monitor blipped with multiple names rapidly once again. As it settled the names on the board were 'Tenten' vs 'Kyro'.

Tenten moved to the stage and awaited the arrival of her opponent. Which one of the five strangers was he? The male of the team of two took his place on the stage now. He looked blankly at Tenten as she glared at him. Something was wrong with this one and she wasn't sure what. He was small but he stood strong, black hair flopping over the visible part of his face. She tentatively reached for her scrolls but then stopped. No, she shouldn't pull out the big guns yet; she should test her opponent's range, skill, and fighting style. She instead reached into her kunai pouch and drew them.

She made a quick bolt for the left and then jumped into the air. With a flick of the wrist she launched the projectile knives at the boy. He made a feeble attempt to dodge but the kunai got his cheek, ripping his mask slightly. This kid was slow, he must have some other trick up his sleeve. That or his partner is the one that does all the heavy lifting in the group.

"What are they doing?" Sakura said confused. Gaara looked to her and then back to the center of the arena. He observed the two down below. Their actions were very strange, and he knew why.

"Wait and see." He replied.

Kyro looked at Tenten now with intensity, but was not making to move. What could he have been planning? Tenten grabbed some shuriken and jumped again launching them toward the frozen young man. They hit him straight in the back, ripping his clothes, piercing the skin, and yet he still didn't move. He didn't flinch, he didn't show any signs of pain, he didn't even try to dodge.

Red started to ooze from the entry wounds on him. He slowly got up and limply turned to face her, his face still blank. He straightened his posture and the smell of blood wafted over to Tenten, lingering in her nostrils.

"How could someone still stand after that?" Sakura said, horrified.

"Only if they don't realize the severity of their situation." Gaara commented grimly.

Tenten drew her scrolls. If no one intervened and the person across from her still stood she had to fight. This was her only hope of ending it quickly. "Twin rising dragons!"

The scrolls swirled, Tenten entered the air and quickly launched weapons at her opponent. He still didn't move. Each one slicing and piercing his skin, he bled, he bruised, he was injured. Fifty-two. She had to have thrown fifty-two weapons at him before she landed. He still stood. She exhaled and looked for more weapons. She patted her weapons pouches, empty. She rummaged for things she knew were attached to her belt, gone. She looked at her arms, blood. The sticky substance completely covering her torso as well; it even ran down her face. But when, how? She looked up to her opponent and saw… saw that he was completely unharmed.

"I said that's enough!" The proctor announced, now standing in front of Tenten. She dropped to her knees. Her body seared with pain. What had happened? She had noticed then that the proctor had formed the hand sign to release a genjutsu. So that was it. Medical nin were quickly called to tend to Tenten. She was escorted to the stands where Sakura promptly started working on her.

"I'm surprised that you didn't feel pain when under that genjutsu. He, he just…" Sakura looked sad.

"I can't believe I fell for it, that I didn't see it sooner!" Tenten said upset.

"He is a skilled genjutsu user; many wouldn't have seen it. Now it's anyone's guess what his partner is capable of." Gaara noted.

"Whatever it is, she probably has to make up for his lack of speed." Tenten added."

The next match was being set up by the generator now. As the names flickered, all looked at the monitor. In bright bold letters the names that were left were 'Choji Akimichi' and 'Kankuro'.

* * *

**Author's Note: In case anyone was wondering, I literally took all the names of the participants who made it to the prelims and put them into a random tournament generator. So yeah, these matches are actually random and really hard to write. T.T**


	6. Choji vs Kankuro

Choji hesitated some when he saw his name appear before him but he remembered that he needed to be strong. Asuma looked to him and gave him a reassuring smile. Alright, he was ready. Choji took a last bite of chips and savored the salty flavor before handing the bag to Shikamaru and jumping down to the stage.

Kankuro on the other hand was feeling fairly confident. The pudge-ball hadn't been a problem in the past. Kankuro jumped down to the stage unstrapping his puppets from his back. He looked to the kid across him. His face was intense and boy was he determined, a strange confidence coming from the worry wart that Kankuro had learned Choji to be. The proctor told them to begin and now was Kankuro's time to test the kid's new mental fortitude.

"Hey, you gonna fight or you gonna cry?" Kankuro taunted. The look on Choji's face stayed the same. Well, this was going to be fun. Kankuro readied himself when out of nowhere the pumpkin across from him started yelling "Human boulder!" Kankuro jumped out of the way barely in time. He was fast and unpredictable it seemed. Kankuro wasn't usually one to immediately pull out his puppets, but seeing as they have seen his attacks before and knew it was coming any element of surprise was out the window.

Crow was unraveled and Kankuro's fingers went to work, dancing about in the air. Crow flew forward towards his opponent. He unleashed the puppet's hidden wrist knives and swung viciously at his opponent. "Partial expansion jutsu!"

Choji's hand grew and caught the puppet. Though the knives partially injured his hand, Choji held tight onto the puppet. Kankuro unleashed the hidden scythes in Crow's abdomen, slicing into Choji's hand. Choji still held tight, despite the red liquid now dripping down his enlarged appendage. Kankuro began to unravel the black ant when a loud yell came from the fatso across the stage. "Human boulder!"

Oh hell, not that again. Kankuro was about to jump when he found he was stuck by his chakra strings. He cut them quickly but not fast enough to avoid Choji running him down. Kankuro laid on the ground for a moment. Boy that hurt more than he thought it would. The ground was cold and felt of defeat. Kankuro got up to find that his puppets had been smashed. If he wanted to, he could still kill the kid, but he would be lying if he said he wouldn't feel bad doing it. Otherwise, there was no way of stopping him. If he trapped the expanding ninja in black ant but he would just grow so large and break it and Kankuro wasn't in the mood for a lengthy repair job, well at least a longer one than was already needed.

Kankuro raised his hand "I forfeit."Everyone in the stands looked at him shocked. It was completely unexpected of a person with an ego like his. He was the puppet master and this kid had given him enough pause to make him just give up?

"That was unexpected." Sakura said to Gaara.

"Maybe not as much as you would think." Gaara replied, looking at his brother. Sakura gave him a look of confusion. Gaara turned to her and gestured to the puppet master "Kankuro doesn't want to kill your friend, but in order to win this match with his skill set, it would be the only way."

Sakura nodded to Gaara as Kankuro took his place back next to his brother. The stage was cleared of shards of wood strewn about and the names began their rapid dance on the board again.

"Sumio Kodama vs. Ino Yamanaka"

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey guys. I'm sorry about not updating yesterday. I plan on posting another chapter tonight to make up for it. I have a question; do you think the chapters are too short? I mean I find it hard to draw out the individual matches and I will make other chapters after the preliminaries longer, but I was wondering if you thought I should try and extend the matches. I feel like the prelims in the anime were kinda short to but IDK.**


	7. Ino's Plan

Ino took the floor with confidence and looked for her opponent. This Sumio was sure taking his sweet time. Eventually one of the large Taki nin made a move toward the stage with a proud stride. Now, with him standing in front of her, Ino looked over the hulking genin. He looked strong but slow, which was perfect. What the overconfident Sumio probably thought of her was that she was a weak little kunoichi ready to be crushed. She readied herself to fight.

They were told to begin and immediately Sumio launched into action. He was darting around Ino, disorienting her. This was bad seeing as this guy was as fast as Lee with his leg weights on. He took a swing at her head and she dropped to the floor just barely avoiding it. She turned to face him to find he was at the other side of the arena already. She grabbed some Kunai and hurled them toward him only to have them miss as he launched toward the kunoichi again. She ducked but this time he followed up with a strong punch to her gut. She flew backwards and her body skidded across the concrete. She propped herself up and wiped her mouth.

"What do you think she is going to do?" Gaara asked Sakura.

"She has a plan, believe me!" Sakura said with confidence about her friend/rival.

"But Ino cannot even hit him, let alone use her clan's ablities!" Lee responded dramatically.

"Listen to what I said! She has a plan," Sakura replied, looking seriously at Lee.

Ino had gotten up and carefully waited for the next attack. From the left. Ino dodged and bolted to the left, causing her opponent to turn around. She threw some shuriken at him and continued running around the stage. He chased her and came up from the right this time. She made for the left but his attack grazed her arm. Ino jumped back towards a more isolated square of the battleground.

She began to form hand seals, staring intensely at the genin across from her. He bolted forward, his fist heading toward Ino's head, when suddenly he froze inches away from her face. She looked up to him and smirked.

"What happened?" Kiba asked frantically "He had a perfect shot and just stopped!"

"Look at the ground Kiba," he did as Sakura told him and noticed something glinting in the light.

"No way!" He said looking at the Kunoichi at center stage.

"The whole time, Ino was feeding chakra infused wire strings across the field. She used them as a restraining net, similar to what she did with her hair to stop me last time." Sakura said, smirking at the fact that she seemed to be the only one that had noticed and figured out what was truly going on. "Wire strings are nearly invisible, especially against the dark concrete. So naturally while her opponent was so focused on attacking her, he didn't notice it feeding out of her bag as she ran. She used the first kunai that she threw as an anchor and just let the pre-infused string unravel as she ran around."

"That was clever of her," Gaara commented observing Yamanaka as she prepared for her next move. She readied her mind transfer. "Mind transfer jutsu!" Ino's body fell limp and all eyes turned to the Taki nin known as Sumio. He looked up towards the proctor. He let out a small laugh, characteristic of Ino and raised his hand. Albeit it was Ino raising his hand, but ninja like him needed a little help sometimes. "I Sumio, withdraw from this match." The proctor nodded, confirming that the contestant had renounced his standing in the chunin exams. Ino released the jutsu and returned to her own body.

She was pronounced the winner and she returned to the stands, "beat that Sakura," she said looking to her friend/rival.

"That was quite clever of you Ino, but I think you will be surprised at what I have in store, just you see!" Sakura retorted.

All the while the jounin looked to their subordinates proudly. "It seems Ino's timing and planning has improved. Has she taken a page out of Shikamaru's book?" Kakashi commented.

"Nah, Shikamaru is more of the 'use what is already around you' type. I'm slightly shocked that Ino came up with such a clever trap." Asuma replied. "Choji has also gained some more confidence which I find reassuring. He seems like he has more of a future as a shinobi now."

"Yeah. It's almost scary watching them grow up so suddenly like this," Kakashi mused, wondering what his remaining student had up her sleeve.

The next names were pulled from the board. "Kiba Inuzuka vs Neji Hyuga".

* * *

**Author's note: Yeah, I need to stop making promises. I also need to think of words other than 'clever'. **


	8. Piss On to Piss Off

Kiba and Neji promptly took to the stage and prepared themselves for battle. Neji considered his opponent's capabilities. It was advantageous to him that Kiba was a short range fighter however it was troublesome how he could go from a midrange distance to a close combat position all too quickly. For him to succeed at this battle, Neji would have to display some impressive dodging techniques and attack when Kiba least expected.

Kiba was confident that he had the upper hand considering that he only had to be within Neji's attack range only fractions of a second before landing an attack. The only thing that bothered him was that new technique Hinata used earlier. Neji had said that he only gets it right half the time, so would he take the risk of wasting chakra on a potentially failed strike?

Neji took his fighting stance and prepared himself for Kiba's first strike. Neji couldn't be the instigator in this battle for it to be his victory. Kiba readied himself as well and immediately he and Akamaru launched into action "Fang over fang!"

They flew toward Neji as he quickly jumped back and to the left. They changed course slightly. "Rotation!"

Neji's last second move had prevented them from grazing his right shoulder. Now that Kiba stood directly in front of him Neji began targeting various points in his chakra network. It didn't last long as Kiba jumped backward and slid to a halt on the cold concrete. He grasped his now limp arm and looked to Neji. Kiba grabbed some shuriken from his weapons pouch and dove to the right as he threw them at the Hyuga genius.

Neji quickly retrieved a kunai and blocked all the shuriken before throwing the kunai at the hound master. Kiba rolled out of the way and made it to his feet. He looked to Neji, wondering if he would make a move on his own or if he needed some encouragement. Kiba really did love to piss off the arrogant pale eyed nin that stood across from him now and he knew exactly what to do to get him riled up. "Akamaru! Dynamic Marking!"

The puppy barked as confirmation and began his 'special' attack. Neji tried to dodge but got dog piss on him anyway. He spat multiple times and glared at Kiba "that was by no means necessary!" Neji said obviously angry.

Neji knew that Kiba just wanted to get a rise out of him. Dynamic marking was a technique used to help track opponents and Kiba well knew that Neji wasn't the type to hide.

Sakura laughed at this display from the stands. Gaara watched the fight with hidden amusement.

"It seems Kiba has repurposed one of his techniques." Gaara commented.

"If Kiba knows anything, it's how to annoy others." Sakura giggled.

The jounin, Lee, Shikamaru, and generally everyone in the room attempted to suppress their laughter. The usually stoic proctor was the first one to break out in hysteric laughter among the silence in the room. After that everyone let themselves giggle, now not only at Neji but at the odd laugh the proctor had which went something like "*GASP* Heh HIG HIG HIG."

Neji clenched his fists in frustration. Why couldn't his match be vaguely normal like all the others? He was angry, and up until the outburst of laughter in the room he had told himself he wouldn't let it get to him. It was too late for that now. He took his fighting stance and faced Kiba who was laughing with his eyes closed. Big mistake.

Neji ran forward and began his assult. Two palms. Kiba opened his eyes in shock. Four palms. Kiba realized what was going on. Eight palms. Kiba realized the severity of his mistake. Sixteen palms. Kiba was really starting to regret pissing Neji off. Thirty-two palms. Kiba was almost sorry. Sixty-four palms. Kiba decided it was worth it.

Kiba lay on the ground now and a gasping proctor, still giggling about Neji's earlier predicament, stopped the match. Neji had won the fight, but Kiba had won the crowd.

Neji went up to the stands and walked past Sakura and Gaara, "are you going to join us?" Sakura asked.

"No, I need a shower" he said as he left the arena.

After that... interesting match… the board went to work selecting the next two combatants. It read "Sakura Haruno vs. Akio Outsuka."

* * *

**Author's Note: So yeah, a generally strange chapter for comic relief. Really it went this way because I couldn't think of a match between the two that would last more than two paragraphs. They are evenly matched but their styles are meant to take out opponents quickly. **


	9. Feuding Fists

To the stage went Sakura. She awaited this Akio and down he came, turning out to be the other Taki male. Sakura pulled on her gloves with excitement. She recently had gotten new combat clothes to accommodate the fighting style that Lady Tsunade had taught her. She brought her fists up and waited for the large genin to make his first blunder of the day.

Kakashi watched with surprise. Sakura was a medical ninja and a genjutsu type, yet she readied herself for taijutsu. It was completely bizarre based on what he knew about the pink haired kunoichi. He saw the male on the floor begin to sloppily rush toward her and expected her to dodge and fall back. Sakura had dodged, jumping into the air, but falling back was not on her itinerary of things to do in this match. She brought her fist down on her opponent as he was forced into the floor, it rupturing somewhat, causing cracks and one of the concrete tiles to come up.

The silver haired sensei watched in awe. What was Tsunade thinking when she taught Sakura that? Sakura had potential in genjutsu, and that was what he had expected she would improve upon. This was a much different approach the young girl's training and much more effective than he could have imagined.

Sakura raised another fist and began to bring it down on the enemy when she was flung off by the hulking monster of a genin. How old was this guy anyway? Sakura threw some shuriken and him and jumped into the air while he was distracted by them. She brought down her fist on his head and he was driven to the ground again. She jumped off of him as he got up weakly. He took a breath and looked to her.

Gaara smirked at Sakura's extreme improvement and almost scary strength. Lee was cheering from behind "That's right Sakura! You are the greatest my flower! Let the power of youth guide you!" Gai had joined him is similar babble as they proclaimed the various great things about youth.

Gaara could barely think with all the noise not two feet away from him. He tried hard to concentrate on the battle and ignore the two green suited weirdos. It was hard but things were starting to pick up again as the Kiri nin ran at Sakura, intending to do some damage of his own. He swung at her and now she began to fall back as Kakashi had originally expected. She kept jumping back, expertly dodging his less than graceful strikes.

Soon though, she hit the wall. When he attempted to strike this time she dropped to the floor and threw a kunai at his gut. It got stuck shallowly but that was easily remedied. She aimed at the kunai with another powerful hit. It sunk into his gut, passing through his stomach, just barely avoiding his spine and exiting out the other side. He stumbled backward, grasping at his abdomen.

Her counter had been effective and now was the time to finish this match cleanly. She ran toward her opponent and aimed for his head. She made contact with the not surprisingly dense skull of his. His head slowly turned as he resisted. It had reached its limit and he flew backward, crashing into the wall and falling unconscious. The proctor watched on in shock as the room fell completely silent. Everyone stared at the genin across from her.

One of the jounin ran up to the kid and checked for a pulse. They sighed in relief "he's alive! Quickly, get him to the infirmary!" Medical nin entered and placed him on a stretcher. It took four of them to lug him out of the arena. Sakura returned to the stand to find an awestruck Kakashi.

"Well it seems you have… improved." He said cautiously. They cleared the arena, making a quick repair the damaged floor. Once again names were displayed for the next match. "Rock Lee vs. Toru".

Lee clenched his fists "and just as I thought my opponent would be you, Gaara! Perhaps we will clash in the finals. For now though, I must fight another!" He proclaimed.

"Lee, you have an opponent now of unknown strength and ability. That can be one of the toughest opponents to beat. Now, go fight a youthful match and claim your place in the finals!" Gai instructed.

"Yes Gai sensei! Your words have made me realize the true error of my assumptions! I shall fight this battle to its fullest!" Lee yelled to the other insane man in front of him. He then rushed enthusiastically to the stage and looked for his opponent. He didn't see any more unknown males. It was quite strange. His opponent did not seem to be there.

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh boy. Don't ask what the hell is wrong with me because I have no idea. **


	10. One-Eighty

Lee's unyielding spirit began to drop as he could not spot his opponent. He looked down from the stands and noticed the girl from the mysterious duo in front of him.

"I'm sorry, but you must leave, as I am waiting for my opponent." Lee said trying to be polite.

The proctor looked to Lee incredulously "This _is_ your opponent."

Sakura observed at the two people on the stage "I thought Toru was a boy's name."

"Don't be certain that those are their true names," Gaara said seriously.

Lee was unsure how to feel about facing such a frail young female who would usually be the type of person he would vow to protect. She was small, being a good three inches shorter than him and she had an innocent face, at least that's what he thought based on what he could see of it. The mask obscured any easy to identify features. Her blank black eyes though, were quite unnerving. He took a fighting stance and waited for her to make a move. Lee had decided that he would try to take her out quickly with as little pain as possible. He felt somewhat bad for the petit kunoichi.

He waited for a few moments and she had not made a move. She stood there waiting. He would feel bad about making the first move but if this battle was to progress he would have to. He darted behind her at an almost blindingly fast pace and swung his leg at her head. She leaped forward onto her hands and then swung her legs around at his head. He had moved out of the way of her attack, but he was shocked at how well she reacted to his assault.

Toru pulled out two kunai and began to swing them around on wire strings, much like a rope javelin. She had figured out his range and was now trying to prevent it.

"That's it." Gaara remarked.

"You mean…" Sakura looked to him. Her attention was quickly grabbed by the action on the ground.

Lee could get past her, but he would need his full speed. He went about removing his leg weights when shuriken were launched with deadly accuracy at him. He narrowly escaped the barrage of weapons but noticed they too had wire strings attached to them. A blue fire fed along them and Lee made for the air, his foot getting slightly scorched. While in flight, he removed his leg weights and then disappeared through his sheer speed and got behind Toru. He almost landed a well aimed punch but she rolled out of the way as the flames died down.

There was no way she could have seen him approach from behind. He was too fast. "How is she doing this?" Sakura asked amazed.

Gaara scanned over the now dangerous genin and spotted something "What's that on her shoulder?"

Sakura squinted and noticed it. The lizard that was spying off her test was watching the kunoichi's backside, "She must be able to see whatever that lizard does! That's how she can see Lee's attacks coming!"

Lee overheard Sakura's revelation. It was helpful, but not terribly so because he couldn't think of a way to counter her second set of eyes. She had retrieved a large number of shuriken from her pouch now and with a puff of smoke she was now holding one demon wind shuriken. She heaved it at him and he fell back, expecting it to lose momentum. She made a hand sign and it turned into the original smaller shuriken she had retrieved. They continued at him and he dodged quickly. Lee didn't see one of them though and it hit him in the shoulder.

"This doesn't seem to be going well," Kakashi commented.

"Nonsense! Lee can take down this little girl with the power of youth!" Gai replied to his rival, desperately not wanting to have his student shown up by the pink haired girl that took the floor last match. Kakashi sighed. He knew that Lee's opponent had many more tricks up her sleeve and wasn't going to give up easily.

Toru had halted her assault presumably to gather a plan for her next move. Lee quickly took advantage of this and made directly for a kick to her head. It landed and her head began to turn. Shockingly she didn't fly backward, but instead her head kept turning. It turned one hundred and eighty degrees around, totally facing behind her.

Lee was petrified. Had he just killed the young maiden of which he was forced to battle? She didn't fall to the ground. She stood there and those in the stands could see a distinctly shocked look in her eyes. Lee trembled, hoping that he had not just murdered the girl who had proven to be a worthy competitor. Soon enough though, her head began to turn unnaturally. Her head rolled around with the sound of her spine shifting and blood rushing through her veins. Lee was taken aback by this but relieved somehow that she was alive.

She grabbed shuriken once again and aimed straight for his vital points. She maneuvered them with the strings now seeking for his throat and vital organs between his ribs. Coming back to reality he dodged, one of the shuriken hitting him in the thigh. His leg hurt but he couldn't let that slow him down.

He went toward her and attempted a flurry of punches and kicks. She dodged and then pulled out a kunai. Toru then placed the kunai in the pressure point between his collar bone and shoulder. She applied pressure, sinking it into his flesh and he blacked out.

Gai looked at his unconscious student in complete and utter astonishment. He had truly believed that Lee had the upper hand and would win. Gaara and Sakura's suspicions of the two, now obviously deadly genin were only confirmed with this display of skill. The girl still on the stage moved some of her black hair out of her eyes and waited for the medical nin to rush to the field and remove that green suited genin that she had defeated. Gai rushed out of the arena to the infirmary.

The next match was revealed to be "Gaara vs. Shino".

* * *

**Author's Note: I just killed off Lee *dodges rocks being thrown* JK! JK!**

**Oh my! Three chapters in one night? What is this madness. (Its the procrastination of homework, but who's asking?)**

**You my have figured from the amount of detail in this chapter that Toru is an OC of mine. If you want to know more about her or just want some minor spoilers, you can find her wiki page here: wiki/Toru_Narisada**


	11. Preliminaries: The Final Match!

This time both combatants arrived to the stage at the same time and promptly. It was the last match in the preliminaries. Gaara stood there stoic, crossing his arms as usual. Shino eyed his opponent and was intrigued by the potential for this match. He hoped this one wouldn't be over as quickly as some of the others.

Sakura watched alongside the jounin in the stands. Neji had re entered the arena as well, now dog piss free. "Who do you think will win?" she asked the others.

Shikamaru looked at her "Gaara obviously. Shino will put up a good fight, but I doubt it will be enough to win." Everyone nodded in agreement with the chunin's words. Shino may be smart and have his own capabilities, but they all knew what Gaara of the Desert was able to do with that sand of his. They didn't think he would try to kill his opponent like the last time they were all in this room together because Gaara was substantially more mentally stable, generally more sane.

Shino's bugs started to swarm, some forming a large mass while others just flew about the room, making that harmonic buzzing sound of theirs. The large mass of bugs formed an insect clone and Shino opened with a taijutsu attack from both sides. It was a strange decision since Gaara couldn't be touched by that sort of approach and he knew it. The bug clone dissipated and Shino fell back. The bugs continues to swarm around the red head sand nin in attempt to find an opening in which the attach themselves to feed on his chakra.

The sand flew up faster than Shino's bugs could move. Eventually the sand was surrounding a good amount of Gaara, leaving enough for him to see.

Gaara looked to his opponent, considering the odd approach he took especially considering he knew the sand jinjuriki's abilities and jutsu set relatively well. It wasn't like that had changed all that much since the last time they met. Since then Gaara had worked some on taijutsu and weapon use so that he wouldn't have to rely on the sand as much and had a backup if it were to somehow fail. Right now though, he was just letting his ultimate defense have its way while he watched the insect nin across from him formulate attacks that never made it to the target.

Then Gaara heard something, movement among the grains of sand that was not being cause by him. The sand began to make cracking sounds. It was _burrowing_ through the sand. He looked to the interior of his shield and saw some beetles breaking through and heaving themselves out of the tightly packed grains. Gaara clenched his fist, causing the sand to compress further and squish any and all unwanted inhabitants.

Sakura looked to the stage "I don't get it, how did Shino get bugs into the sand?"

Shikamaru sighed, "That bug clone earlier dissipated much too soon for him to have been planning an all out taijutsu attack. My guess is that they slipped in then, not that it did much good."

Gaara was getting tired of this and just wanted the match to end. His sand rushed forward toward Shino and Shino attempted to fall back before getting ensnared in it. Gaara slowly but gently increased the pressure. "Please withdraw." He stated, sand defense dropping and him walking over to the captured insect. At first Shino resisted and some of his insects started to break through the grainy trap. Gaara crushed them and continued to increase the pressure "I won't say it again."

It was obvious that Shino wouldn't dare give up, so the sand shot up and covered his mouth and nose. He couldn't breathe and began to suffocate. Once unconscious from oxygen deprivation Gaara released him and the proctor announced him as the victor.

The preliminaries were over and now all the winners of this phase had one month to prepare for the coming battles in the finals. As it stood now, those who were to participate were Temari, Kyro, Choji, Ino, Neji, Sakura, Toru, and Gaara. They would rest and train until the set date for them to battle it out and maybe they would learn more about the mysterious intruders.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ok, so the preliminaries are finally over, we have an even number of participants and a month until finals. I just realized that I didn't have any Ino commentary on Sakura's fight. Should I go back an add that? **


	12. A Nice Day

It had been a few days since the preliminaries and Sakura had taken enough time to rest after the strenuous work they had required of her. She was headed to work on her medical ninjutsu by volunteering at the hospital. As she walked through the streets she considered what kind of training she would do once her two hour shift was over. She decided pulverizing a training ground would have to do.

It was a nice warm day with a bright blue sky and a light breeze brushing past her face. She strolled along mindlessly towards her destination, enjoying the pleasant atmosphere and listening to the calming bustle in the streets as she walked. When she passed the Hokage tower, a young girl came running up to her.

"Oh! Are you one of the people participating in the chunin exam finals?" The young girl said excitedly. She looked to be a few years younger than Sakura with bright eyes and short black hair.

Sakura smiled at how cute the girl's enthusiasm was "Yes I am! Why do you ask?" Sakura started off toward her original destination again.

The girl followed along with her, smiling excitedly as she spoke "being a ninja is so cool and I heard it is really hard to get into the finals! You must be really strong!"

"Haha, I guess so, but a lot of other people are much stronger than me. In order to be a successful kunoichi, you need to be smart too." Sakura said pointing to her head as she explained this to the girl.

"I can't wait to watch your match! I want to be a great ninja to." The girl looked to the sky with a wistful look in her eyes. Sakura was really touched by the girl's admiration.

"Maybe, if you like, you could watch me train later." Sakura offered, finding the girl all too likable.

"Really? I could?" She held her hands in front of her face trying to contain her joy. She was just too adorable.

"Perhaps, I could show you a thing or two." Sakura whispered into the girl's ear as she nodded vigorously. Sakura pulled away from her "but that will be our secret, ok?" The girl was grinning ear to ear by this point with her tiny nose crinkling up a little "meet me at training ground seven in two hours." The girl agreed and ran off merrily. Today was going to be a good day, no doubt about it. Sakura got to the hospital and treated eight patients with varying degrees of ailments. After the nurses congratulated her on a job well done, Sakura hung up her scrubs and pulled her hair out of its holder. She wandered out of the hospital and realized she had some time before she had promised to be at the training ground and so she stopped at a food stand and got some sweets.

She munched away gleefully as she continued to appreciate the beautiful weather. She took a deep breath of the fresh air and exhaled. On her way to her designated destination she passed Ichiraku. Sakura started to reminisce about the times that Naruto, Sasuke, and her had all went there. Albeit Sasuke was most often there against his better judgment and would often end up leaving more annoyed than when he entered.

She let her mind wander about the fond memories until she found herself at the training ground. The young girl was waiting for her on a low hanging tree branch. Sakura went about her usual training with added sounds of amazement in the background. She couldn't help but smirk at how easily impressed this child was. After she finished her warm ups she waved the girl over to her and showed her how to throw shuriken. At first the girl couldn't get the hang of holding them right but after a while she got them all to stick in a tree in a loosely packed grouping. She was delighted with her progress.

At sundown Sakura said farewell to her new companion and went home for dinner. Her mother had made her favorite meal and everything. She was shocked that for the whole night, not a single person nagged her about chores or complained at her about how irresponsible they thought she was. After that Sakura opted for a shower and then curled up in bed. It was official, today was the best day ever.

* * *

That night the moon was full and at the Hokage tower and it outlined a human figure entering through a window near the top. The figure rushed about the halls until it got into the Hokage's office. It rifled through paper after paper before finding various shinobi profiling documents as well as records of squad movements. The figure took out a scroll and began to copy down some of the information before replacing the papers back in their designated folders.

The figure made its way to the library as well, repeating the process. Then it exited the way it came and sent a bird off with the scroll in which it had recorded the precious intel. Amid the shadows cast by the moonlight, the figure scurried off and disappeared without a trace as quickly as it had come.

* * *

Gaara sat on the roof of the inn that he and his siblings were staying at in the leaf village. The three decided there was no point in making the three day journey back to the sand considering they had plenty of friends in the leaf to visit anyway. He stared at the full moon, contemplating various things; some important, some not. He wondered what it felt like after having slept for the suggested eight hours, he considered what might happen to the desert if it snowed there, he examined his knowledge of the competitors in the finals, he remembered the way he used to be, he thought about the future and what might his life be like if he were able to lead a normal life. Let's just say Gaara had a lot of things on his mind.

At night when everyone was sleeping, he couldn't help but to let his mind wander. If he didn't indulge in random thoughts like this he may go insane… again. It was a cool out and stars hung over his head. The streets were quiet other than the occasional drunk wandering home. That tended to be amusing. Gaara decided though, that he had sat around long enough and so he jumped from the roof and let his feet touch the ground to take him wherever they may.

The leaf village was a completely different place at night. There was a calming silence and a few lanterns every couple of buildings that lit up the streets along with the moonlight. As he continued to walk he thought he had heard the light footsteps of a person running coming from the ally. He jumped up onto a roof to find out if he could see who it was. However, by the time he got to his perch the owner of the footfalls had vanished. Gaara decided to continue about his walk and a few hours later noticed the sun coming up. He turned for the inn to meet with his siblings who would soon wake up.

* * *

**Author's Note: So here I finally wrote a decent length chapter and it was fun because I could just do as I like with it. **


	13. A Troublesome Day

Ino had woken up for the day after having a relatively restless night. She felt there was something wrong the previous evening but she couldn't figure out what it was. She got ready, pulling her hair up and putting on her usual clothes before heading out to meet Shikamaru who she had gotten to agree to sparing with her today. Maybe she could weasel a strategy out of him too. She walked down the street half asleep, zoning out to the sound of shoppers going about their business, when a bicyclist nearly ran her down. After yelling a few profanities at the kid who quickly sped away, she continued toward her teammate's house.

She approached the Nara residence, politely saying hello to Shikaku and then asking Shikamaru's mother for his whereabouts. He was still sleeping. Ino promptly stomped up to his room and slammed the door open, yelling at Shikamaru to "get your lazy ass out of bed!"

Shikamaru was less than pleased with his wake up call and fell out of bed. He got up, glared at Ino, brushed himself off, and then pulled on the first shirt he could find over his night clothes. He followed Ino out to the training grounds, all the way listening to her babble about how she was going to beat Sakura. They immediately fell into taijutsu practice and Shikamaru tuned out of whatever Ino was saying as he blocked.

"I mean, how does she have that enormous strength? If she can do it, I should be able to, right?"

"M-hm." Shikamaru went for an opening in her stance.

"So, how do you think she does it? You know what, I can beat her without knowing, my own way. It doesn't matter how she does it."

"Yep." He dodged a few punches and kicks.

"That's it then! I am going to work harder than Sakura ever could!" She said, knocking Shikamaru down.

"Girls, how troublesome." Just as he said that it started to rain. They took cover under a tree. Ino sighed. This was just perfect. They ran home and she escaped to her room. She stared out the window at the grey skies and falling droplets, listening to the pitter patter of them hitting the ground. She listened to the house's occasional creeks and enjoyed the warmth of the blanket she had thrown over her shoulders. Amid all of this she eventually heard a knocking at the door. At first she didn't notice and continued to mindlessly stare out the window, however the second time it came her attention was drawn downward and she saw a small girl outside the front door.

Ino slowly descended the household steps and sluggishly opened the door. The girl looked completely devoid of anything resembling joy. "Hello. Could I bother you for a dry place to stay for a little bit?" she asked in a depressing tone. Her dark wet hair adhered to her face and tiny drops of water fell across her soft pale skin.

"Won't your parents be worried about you?" Ino asked.

"They aren't around to worry…" the girl trailed off, looking to the ground sadly.

Ino looked at the clock. Her father wouldn't be home for a few hours, "get in here quickly, before you catch a cold!"

Ino pitied the girl. Her dark eyes showed a great deal of pain that she was trying to hide. Ino rushed over to a closet and produced a towel that she offered to the girl. Once the girl had been dried off Ino went about making tea. The girl sat at the kitchen table staring at the wall. Ino came and sat down while she waited for the water to heat, "so, how did you end up wandering the streets in the rain?"

The girl looked away from Ino "My parents were ninja sent on a mission that they didn't come back from."

Ino was crushed by this response. She decided to change the subject "so are you in the academy?"

The girl looked up to Ino "No, I'm not sure I am cut out for being a shinobi."

"What are you talking about? If you are willing to try anything is possible and if you don't like fighting there are a lot of other things you can do to help others!" Ino explained reassuringly.

"Like what?" The girl had a genuine look of curiosity now.

"Like I am a medical ninja. I heal my comrades when they get hurt and I volunteer at the hospital!" She persuaded.

"I didn't realize a ninja could do that type of thing." She seemed to be feeling somewhat better.

The rain outside began to subside and after they had some tea and Ino chattered on about her accomplishments as a kunoichi of the leaf, the girl left Ino despite any protests she made about how the girl shouldn't live on the streets. It was a shame how the ninja world created orphans like her but Ino had hoped that maybe she had helped her in some way.

* * *

Temari looked to her brother. Judging by what time he had gotten back that morning he had wandered a long way that previous night. It was now mid afternoon and rain from earlier had subsided. They walked toward the nearest training ground they knew of in the leaf. She wondered what could have possessed her little brother to walk so far from the rest of them. He usually stayed on the roof at night or maybe would walk as far as a block or two away from the inn.

Gaara had looked to Temari and she pretended that she wasn't just staring him down for the past five minutes. They got to the training ground and went about practice as usual. Temari, thought she had heard a strange rustling in the trees but when she went to investigate, nothing turned up and so she dismissed it as the wind.

Still, something was not right. First Gaara's unusual behavior, not that he was a normal kid, and then the eerie feeling that they were being watched. She went about the training anyway as if nothing was bothering her in the back of her mind. She pretended that she was suspicion free, all the while still looking for the presence of an unwanted onlooker. Kankuro had noticed that his sister was acting off but dismissed it as a monthly issue.

The sun began to set and the sky burst into its beautiful mixture of reds and yellows as the bright life-giving orb slipped behind the horizon. The sand siblings eventually packed up their stuff and returned to the inn, grabbing dinner first. Kankuro had passed out in his usual manner and Gaara was on the roof again. Temari looked out into the streets to see if their well hidden visitor had followed them home. She couldn't see anything so she opted for sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: So I figured I could slip in another chapter before bed. Anyone have any ideas about the strange occurrences? I would like to hear your thoughts!**


	14. A Bird

Neji had been preparing like everyone else. He arrived about a half an hour early to his scheduled training with his uncle. The sun was just starting to come up and not even really many of the animals were awake yet. The air was crisp and the morning was cool. Neji began doing some warm-ups so that he wouldn't have to waste time with them when his uncle arrived. He saw the curtains open on the window that belonged to Hinata's room. She would probably want to join them for training later.

Neji continued on going about his business when he noticed something. He felt like he was being watched. He thought he had been alone in the training-yard until then. He looked around to see if he could spot anyone out of the ordinary. He saw no one. He almost relaxed, blaming it on his not yet fully alert mind (nobody should be up at this hour) when he remembered. He remembered the discussion everyone had between the second phase and preliminaries of the chunin exams. Spies? Assassins? Thieves? He didn't know, but he activated his byakugan and scanned again for potential intruders. He saw a bird. He approached the bird. He examined the bird.

There was definitely something off about the winged creature but he wasn't entirely sure what. It wasn't a henge, that was for sure because it had the chakra network of a bird. The amount and speed of the chakra was what was strange. It honestly looked like someone had fed the bird a pound of coffee beans. Neji shook his head and deactivated his byakugan as he heard his uncle emerge from the house. He looked at the bird one more time and could swear it was looking directly at him, staring even, but he needed to greet his uncle and begin the day's training. He could worry about the caffeine high feathered creature later.

* * *

Choji had gotten up long after the sun had risen and headed into the kitchen where his mother had prepared an overly large breakfast as usual, his favorite. He inhaled his food and his mother handed him a lunchbox to go. His father approached him then and asked him to take some papers to Lady Tsunade. Choji reluctantly agreed and made on his way.

As he walked through the streets he took in his surroundings, mainly the smells. As he passed one shop he could smell barbeque and as he passed a stand he smelled dango. He walked around, enjoying the smells and becoming increasingly hungry. He couldn't wait to dig into that lunchbox his mother had made for him. He started to fumble with it, loosely holding the papers in his one arm. He almost had the box open…

A bird swooped down and took the papers straight from his arm. He got the box open and then noticed his one arm was empty. He frantically looked around for the documents and then looked up to see the bird flying off with them. Oh no. Those were the clan reports, being financial records, family matters, and some ninja files. His father would kill him. Choji reluctantly dropped his lunchbox and chased after the bird to the best of his ability. He ran across the roof tops, yelling at the bird all the while.

* * *

Neji had finished his training for the day and was heading out of the Hyuga compound to meet with his team, to check on them namely. They had both ended up in the hospital with severe wounds. He heard a familiar voice yelling at the moment. He looked up to see Choji racing across the roof, an odd sight.

"Choji!" Neji called to his friend.

Choji stopped and looked at the Hyuga "Sorry Neji, I can't stop now! That bird stole Akimichi clan records!" Choji yelled and pointed to the bird in question.

Neji looked in the direction indicated and did in fact see a bird flying off with papers in its talons. He squinted. No it couldn't be. He activated his byakugan and yes, it was. It was the bird that had been staring him down earlier. He joined Choji on the roof "come on!" and he darted off in the direction of the bird.

Slowly they caught up to the flying fiend and attempted to take the papers from its grasp. Choji flailed as he jumped up toward the bird, of which ended up flying a bit higher. Neji sighed. He grabbed some shuriken and threw them at the bird. It fell on top of the roof ahead of them and they both ran up to it. Choji reached for the documents when the bird and the papers both disappeared with a puff of smoke. Choji fell back to a sitting position and groaned "My dad's gonna kill me!"

Neji continued to look at the spot the bird had disappeared from "I find it strange that a bird could use a substitution jutsu." Neji commented.

"Are you sure it was a bird?" Choji questioned.

"Yes. It was definitely a bird." Neji grimaced. There was no way it was anything else. He would have seen if it were otherwise.

"Maybe it was … a ninja bird?" The idea sounded ridiculous but it also seemed to be the only explanation. There were ninja hounds and messenger hawks. Who was to say that birds couldn't learn basic jutsu? Some of them already had the map of the world memorized. Neji sighed and shook his head.

"You should report the records missing." Neji looked to Choji. He was about to protest but then groaned as he realized the Neji was right. No dinner tonight it seemed.

* * *

It was dark out that night, clouds blocking any moonlight or stars. In a shadowy apartment two figures moved about.

"You have served your purpose." One commented.

"I have made myself useful." The other replied.

One was copying information from a few stacks of papers onto a scroll as the other looked out into the night, taking in the village that they were sent to observe. It had been an eventful three weeks they thought. Not long now and the hard part was already finished. They would soon return to their place of origin.

* * *

The next day was a Saturday and Neji actually did make it to the hospital to see Lee and Tenten. Both were covered in bandages but seemed to be in good spirits. Lee went on about how the power of youth would guide him to a speedy recovery. Tenten laughed awkwardly at her teammate's usual strange actions.

"I will come to watch the finals Neji! I wish to watch you be the victor of your match!" Lee exclaimed.

"Shh! Lee, not so loud! There are people still sleeping on this level! " Tenten reprimanded Lee quietly.

Neji smirked. His team seemed to be the same as ever.

"ALRIGHT THEN! Lee! It is time to get you back to training!" Gai had entered in an overly enthusiastic manner.

"Shhhh!" Tenten warned but then giggled quietly.

Yeah, they were feeling better.

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow I haven't updated in like a week. Sorry! OTL**


	15. First Round of the Finals

Another week had passed and the time for the finals had arrived. The participants were presented in the arena and the crowd cheered. Sakura was excited to be on the receiving end of the enthusiasm this time around. She looked at the premade bouts. They were as followed: Gaara vs. Kyro, Choji vs. Temari, Toru vs. Neji, Sakura vs. Ino.

The arena was cleared for the first match. Gaara and Kyro awaited the OK to start. The proctor announced the names of the competitors and told them to begin when ready. Gaara knew that his opponent's play was genjutsu, so he would have to spot any small inconsistencies quickly and move from there. He stared down Kyro just as the masked nin did for him. They stood there doing nothing. Gaara wouldn't make the first move. That would be a huge mistake.

Gaara heard a bird flying over. He looked up briefly and noticed there was no bird there to make the sound. He made to release the genjutsu just in time to find a paper bomb right in front of him. He used his sand to cover it. He warily approached the boy standing across from him and felt something at his ankle. A wire string. He jumped back as kunai flung toward him. He looked around and saw the whole arena had traps. They must have been set up when he was under that genjutsu before.

His opponent then rushed towards him with a kunai and thrust it into his stomach. His sand didn't protect him. It didn't even move. He was in pain, but that couldn't be right. He went to release the genjutsu. It didn't work. The boy looked him in the eye, inches away from Gaara's face, "I am not so weak as to have my genjutsu dispelled so easily."

So that was his game. He let Gaara dispel it earlier to make him think all he needed to do was spot it. He placed the first paper bomb but the rest of the traps would have been impossible to place in that short amount of time. As far as Gaara knew he could still fight, but he would have to figure out where his opponent really was first. He activated his third eye and had his sand swirl loosely around the ring until he could find any inconsistencies. So long as he was still under a genjutsu his opponent could be doing who knows what in reality. There, he found his sand bumping off of something that he couldn't actually see. He sent his sand there as the invisible thing moved away. Soon though, Gaara caught it and crushed whatever he had grabbed. Kyro appeared, now with a limp on his left foot. Gaara made for him again but he disappeared.

Damn there were too many levels to this genjutsu. Well, when in doubt, burry everything. Gaara wouldn't need that much considering the size of the arena so he ground up some of the earth beneath the ground until he had enough "sand tsunami!"

The sand rushed fourth and the arena filled. The genjutsu finally lifted and he saw a rather shocked proctor proclaiming him the victor. They were rather upset however that they would have to dig out the stadium seeing as the sand reached just below the first set of seats.

Gaara then directed the excess sand back underground from whence it came. He saw Kyro passed out, lying on his back as medics rushed in to escort him to the infirmary. One down, one to go.

* * *

**Author's note: and just as you thought I was getting better about writing incredibly short chapters! I'm so evil. Please review!**


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